Honest Regard
by The Phiend
Summary: Oneshot. Blackfire thinks about a certain planet...and a certain sister who happens to reside there.


_(Author's note: Basically, I came up with an idea while working on Titan Knight that didn't work in that story at all, then I thought to try shifting it over to Blackfire...and an hour later I had this.)_

_(disclaimer: STILL don't own the Teen Titans.)_

* * *

As it had turned out, Earthlings _did_ like to party.

In fact, Blackfire noted with a smirk, it'd be fair to say that's what Earthlings were best at. Their genuinely _uesful_ traits were certainly subpar. Oh, it wasn't _their _fault that their species was so pitifully frail. But that was why, while Tamaran's inventors sought to create tools to harness Tamaraneans' strength, Earth's inventors devoted their energies towards tools to provide the strength _for_ them. The path of events from there was obvious: tools became the source of their peoples' power. And when those tools were sufficiently "advanced" that their use meant their destruction, the various subcultures sought truce in lieu of losing their power. And thus, while Tamaran had unified its culture, Earth remained a conglomeration of distinct subcultures bound by mutual pact.

Which suited Blackfire just fine. She had no interest in Earth's military capabilities. Her interest was her own amusement, and to that end the tolerance of outside cultures was a great boon. And in retrospect, similar reasons were probably responsible for her sister's liking for the place. Starfire always _did_ love toys, and Earth was overflowing with such things.

Admittedly there _was_ some merit behind Starfire's fascinations. Things such as automobiles, which she always compared to a glorg or some other creature native to her home planet, would be whimsical on Tamaran. And rightfully so; when any person is able to fly, and strong enough to puncture alloys of most naturally occurring materials, a vehicle is little more than an over-engineered scrap heap. Yet on Earth, where frailty reigns supreme, such things are ubiquitous, the _preferred_ mode of transportation in a great many of the cultures. Even the race that comprised the Centauri system—

A scowl hit Blackfire's face as her chain of thoughts suddenly shifted. She still had difficulty accepting that Starfire had dared to oppose her, at the end of her first "visit" to Earth. Not that she couldn't see the reasoning behind such—the infamously draconian Centauri penal facilities were the whole reason Blackfire chose to traverse half the galaxy to seek out her sister in the first place—but it just seemed so _odd_ for her little sister to have suddenly grown some backbone. Though not nearly as strange and embarrassing as it was to actually be _beaten_ by her, after Blackfire had literally toppled the Tamaranean political structure. Blackfire truly _had_ always been the better fighter, that's why the Gordanians got—

Her answer came into place. The Gordanians had forcibly taken Starfire from Tamaran to serve as the Citadel saw fit. And not, despite rumors to the contrary, due to any machinations on Blackfire's part. Unless "machinations" included Blackfire's unwillingness to comply and the Gordanians' utter inability to extract her. She wasn't aware of her sister's fate at the _time_, but she was later informed that once the Lord Trogaar had determined that Blackfire could not be taken, he recalled that the Citadel had not specified _which_ Tamaranean princess was sought; and sent a team to capture Starfire, while continuing to throw bodies at Blackfire to keep her from interfering.

In any case, the Gordian slave trade was about on par with Centauri prison for intolerability. The trauma must have snapped some survival instinct into place in Starfire's mind. It was the only explanation that made any sense, why her little sister had figured out to fight so abruptly. And had taken to it so well, she was able to defeat Blackfire _herself_. And on some strange level, she was actually proud of her little sister.

This didn't mean she was going to forgive her, of course. Blackfire had been banished from her home planet, in its entirety, and all the things she loved there. True, she was confident she could simply force her way _through_ whatever resistance there might be, but to do so would level the culture she so admired. And that would be unconscionable.

Ultimately, Starfire had earned the right for Blackfire to take her seriously. Nothing more. And once Blackfire had the means to make her sister properly _pay_ for the disgrace, she would be down there to collect.

Until then, she resolved to avoid the planet Earth. A pity, as Earthlings still _loved_ to party.


End file.
